More on Rudder Stiffeners

In my research, I found that any detail concerning the fabrication of the stiffeners for the rudder and elevators is woefully lacking on most builder sites, so I am attempting to fill that void by providing a bit more detail. This pic shows the labels forsome of the stiffeners, which are labeled from A through H. There are eight per side, for a total of 16 for the rudder. All 16 had to be trimmed from the angle provided from Vans.

The stiffener basically "stiffens" the thin rudder skin to keep it from flexing to much. The only ribs for the rudder are the two end-ribs, one on top adn one on the bottom. I'm not totally certain why the rudder does not contain a more robust skeleton made of fully formed ribs from end to end, but perhaps this has to do with the fact that this is a critical moving part of the aircraft that controls a force called yaw, or the left and right turning capability of the airplane. Perhaps hard formed ribs that would attach to both sides of the rudder skin may be subject to failure and cracking due to the amount of force that this surface will endure over time. It could also be related to weight concerns, since this is the aft-most structure of the entire airplane, and therefore has a large affect on the center of gravity.